Photo-Real Trend Dresses & Standout-From-The-Crowd Girls Fashions by KidCuteTure

Thank you to KidCuteTure for providing the girls' dresses featured below, as well as the prize for our reader giveaway.  All opinions expressed are my own.

I often wonder how my daughter turned out to be such a girly girl.  She spends most of her time with her two brothers, plays basketball with the boys at recess, and can break a board with her fist at Taekwondo.  Still, she is one of the daintiest girls I know, which is why I am not surprised how much she fell in love with these photo real dresses by KidCuteTure.

If you've never visited the KidCuteTure online children's boutique, then you are missing out. It's not everyday that you find couture artistry in kid-friendly designs.  By this I mean stand-out-from-the-crowd fashions in comfortable, age-appropriate styles designed with children in mind.

My daughter just loves that this dress has pockets, which made twirling in it particularly fun. As a parent, I loved the ease of caring for these dresses.  We machine washed them inside-out and hung them on a hanger to dry.

Today, you can see our 8 year old daughter in the lovely on-trend Fiona dress in the Rosebud photo-real print and the Kiwi photo-real print.  Realistic photo prints are currently all the rage and can be found on t-shirts, leggings, dresses, and more.  The floral images KidCuteTure chose for these two dresses are stunning.

Both the Rosebud and Kiwi Fiona dresses are vibrant and full of life for Spring and Summer.  To me the Rosebud dress is more fun and girly, while the Kiwi dress is more sweet and serene.  Which print do you like the best?

Visit KidCuteTureShop.com to view all the prints available in the Fiona dress, as well as the vast selection of tops, bottoms, sets, dresses, outerwear, and more infant/toddler and girls sizes.

Get a Jumpstart on Holiday Shopping . . . Save up to 50% off Ann Loren Matching Outfits for Girls and Their 18" Dolls

This post has been written as part of a Zulily affiliate promotion.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Even though our 6-1/2 year old Makenzie has grown up with two brothers, is extremely athletic, and loves studying taekwondo, she somehow turned out to be one of the girliest girls I know.  Although she enjoys playing Legos and computer games with her brothers, I know that she wishes deep down that she had a sister to play dolls and dress-up with.

When I showed Makenzie the Ann Loren matching outfits for girls and their 18" dolls, she immediately wanted to see each and every one.  She once had a few matching outfits for herself and her favorite doll, but unfortunately she recently outgrew them and it is quite difficult to find such matching outfits in sizes larger than a girl's size 6 or 6x.  Not only are the Ann Loren outfits fun, bold, and oh-so-sweet, many of them are available in up to a size 9/10 for girls.

Our daughter chose the Pink & Black Deva Tunic and Ruffle Pants to be her favorite outfit, but I like the Polka Dot Rizzo Dress (pictured above) the best.  Which Ann Loren outfit is your favorite?

If you like to start your Holiday shopping early or know a girl with a special birthday coming up, then you will most definitely want to take advantage of the Ann Loren up to 50% off sale!  As a 3G2S reader, you can shop starting today (9/8)! For the general public, the sale will be taking place on Zulily from 9/9 to 9/11.  There are even 18" doll carriers and doll beds included in this sale!

The Little-Little Black Dress Shop Girl's Boutique

My husband is somewhat against our 4 year old daughter wearing black.  He simply thinks it is not a color fitting for a little girl who should look sweet and adorable.  Well, the owners of The Little-Little Black Dress Shop (and I) disagree with him.  This girl's boutique offers a wide array of black dresses for girls that are not only sweet and adorable, but also chic and fashion-forward.

This Sophie Catalou Biancia Dress, available in sizes for both toddlers and girls, fits right in with the Spring/Summer 2011 trend of 3-dimensional flowers, which has been seen widely on clothing, handbags, and jewelry.

Of course, our little girl knows nothing about what is hot and what is not this season, but she does know what she likes.  This dress definitely made it onto the list of things our daughter loves.  She thinks it is "so pretty".  She also adores the flowers and loves how the dress twirls when she dances.

As a parent, I think that the length of this dress is perfect.  Because it hits at the knee and the skirt is not too full, there is no need to add a pair of bike shorts underneath.  Also, the dress survived machine washing and drying without any shrinking, pilling, or fading.  The only things that needed touching up after washing were the flowers.  The petals curled a bit and no longer would lay flat.  A little spray of Downy Wrinkle Releaser, which contains some starch, helped to smooth the flowers out and to keep them opened again.

To view more about Sophie Catalou dresses or other designer girl's dresses, visit llbdshop.com.  The Little-Little Black Dress Shop is now taking pre-orders for the Fall 2011 line.  You can receive Free Standard Shipping on orders over $50 when you use Code: SHIP50 at checkout OR through July 31st, 2011 receive 15% off sitewide when you checkout using Code:  3G2S.


Thank you to The Little-Little Black Dress Shop for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon and for providing a second product for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive one dress of their choice from The Little-Little Black Dress Shop (up to a $60 value).

Limitations:
This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Browse the selection of toddler's and girl's dresses offered by llbdshop.com. Then leave a comment telling me the name of the dress you might choose if you won this contest (aside from the dress reviewed in this article). You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1)  For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.


2)  For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3)  For 10 extra entries, sign up to receive email updates from The Little-Little Black Dress Shop (on bottom left). Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments telling me you did.

4)  For 1 extra entry each, Friend me on Facebook and/or "Like" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page, then leave a separate comment here telling me so with the link to your Facebook profile.

5)  For 1 extra entry, "Like" The Little-Little Black Dress Shop on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.


6)  Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7)  Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8)  Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9)  Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, July 11th, 2011 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!

Making a Holiday & Birthday Wish List is a Must for My Children

For the second year in a row, I am using the Amazon Universal Wish List to put together lists of items my three children would want and need for Christmas and birthday gifts. As their parent, I feel like I know best about what my children's interests are and what items gift buyers should avoid. Since our children's birthdays all fall in January, you can imagine how high the risk of duplicate gifts may be. I have even added the "Add To Wish List" button to my toolbar, so I can add any item I see from whatever website on which I happen to be browsing. I usually add items in a variety of price ranges and it seems to work out well for everybody.

I just added this Sandwich Making Set by Melissa & Doug to my 3 year old son's wish list, which I came across on GrowsUp.com . This site was recently brought to my attention and I wish I had found it sooner. GrowsUp.com contains micro boutiques from some of my favorite children's brands, such as Melissa & Doug, KidKraft, Green Toys, and more. The site even sells one of my favorite items ever . . . the Teagan & Mack Pearl Bracelet my daughter has been wearing since September. In fact, I have seen many items I own on this site, which just proves to me that the collection of brands represented on GrowsUp.com is a perfect fit for my family. If you are a one-stop-shop kind of person, then I highly recommend you check it out for yourself.